At the end of WWII Russia was trying to take Korea as a communist nation, but the United States wouldn’t have it. So we got involved and Korea was split at the 38th parallel in 1945. North Korea left as a communist nation and South Korea as a capitalist nation. Korea started a Civil War June 6th, 1950. The North attacked the South because they wanted the South united with them under the flag of communism. This war ended July 27th, 1953 when the United Nations had both sides sign the Korean War Armistice Agreement.

The relationship between North and South Korea was always there because it used to be a united country that is now split in two. The first contact was rather hostile, seeing how they were choosing two different sides. The Korean Civil War was the first real encounter after they split and neither country really won. North Korea had tried to exert dominance over South Korea because they are a communist nation that would like control of the “whole” country. Neither nation feels like they should be split or be together. They are quite indecisive because it can be hard for a whole country to come up with a unanimous opinion.

The natural resources that have been available in North and South Korea have been available to both, but I have put the resources with the country that had them in more prosperous quantities. North Korea had steel, hydroelectric power, chemicals, and coal. South Korea was richer in food, machinery, and consumer goods. North Korea was more of the industrial country, while South Korea was more of the agricultural country. Resources have been the basis for part of the relationship that North and South Korea are trying to build today. North and South Korea are learning to share, but not so much as far as land goes. They are split and for now that’s how it will stay.

The two countries today are trying to get along. Even though the South refuses communism the President of South Korea, Kim Dae Jung proposed the ‘Sunshine Policy’. This will help them live in peace because it means the North is not allowed to attack the South, the South is not allowed to try to “fix” North Korea’s government, and that the Southern companies can invest in the North therefore profiting businesses as well.

In summation, many countries have their difficulties. They split, they rejoin, some of them stay intact forever. Those are the ones that are truly blessed. I admire North and South Korea for trying to put aside their differences and live in peace. One day, hopefully, we will be able to call North Korea and South Korea just Korea again.